""An inordinately complex man who has been labeled everything from hero to charlatan to sadist Thomas Edward Lawrence blazed his way to glory in the Arabian desert then sought anonymity as a common soldier under an assumed name. The story opens with the death of Lawrence in a motorcycle accident in London at the age of 47 then flashbacks to recount his adventures: as a young intelligence officer in Cairo in 1916 he is given leave to investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks in World War I. In the desert he organizes a guerrilla army and--for two years--leads the Arabs in harassing the Turks with desert raids train-wrecking and camel attacks. Eventually he leads his army northward and helps a British General destroy the power of the Ottoman Empire.""